Latest California Healthline Stories
$22M Emergency Loan Fund Started for Health Clinics
The California Primary Care Association is hoping to create a $22 million emergency loan fund that would help 800 community clinics and health centers in the state maintain services if the state does not have a new budget in place by Wednesday. The clinics and health centers are heavily supported by funding through Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. The California HealthCare Foundation, Catholic Healthcare West, Mercy Investment Services, NCB Capital Impact and Sutter Health have contributed to the loan fund. CHCF is the publisher of California Healthline. San Francisco Business Times.
Survey: Lawsuit Fears Drive Overtesting, Overtreatment
More than nine of 10 U.S. physicians said doctors overtest and overtreat in order to shield themselves from malpractice lawsuits, according to a survey published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Survey co-author Tara Bishop, an internist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, noted that “defensive medicine” likely costs the U.S. health care system billions of dollars annually and that many physicians can still be sued even if they follow guidelines for typical standards of care. AP/Chicago Tribune.
State Begins Taking Names for High-Risk Health Insurance Pool
The Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board recently started accepting names of people with pre-existing conditions who are interested in a high-risk health insurance pool. Gov. Schwarzenegger signed the program into law yesterday. Sacramento Bee et al.
VA To Spend $20M on Facility for Homeless Veterans in L.A.
On Monday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Rep. Henry Waxman and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs has approved allocating $20 million to convert an unused building at the West Los Angeles VA campus into a therapeutic housing facility for chronically homeless veterans. Los Angeles Times, AP/Ventura County Star.
California Senate Passes Bills To Set Up High-Risk Insurance Pool
California legislators have approved two bills that would create a state-run high-risk insurance pool to cover residents with pre-existing conditions. The pool could receive $761 million in federal funding under the health reform law. Santa Rosa Press Democrat et al.
Hospitals Questioning Whether ‘Doc Fix’ Could Curb Facility Payments
Hospitals have expressed concern that a recently enacted provision in the stand-alone “doc fix” legislation governing the first 72 hours of a patient admission will reduce health care facility payments by more than $4 billion across a decade. CQ HealthBeat et al.
Providers Struggle To Prepare for Spike in Elderly Patients
Health care providers are grappling with how to prepare for the expected spike in high-risk elderly patients. Such patients often have multiple chronic diseases and require costly hospital readmissions. Health care providers argue that the heath care payment system penalizes providers for treating such patients. New York Times.
Battle Between Whitman, Calif. Nurses Union Heats Up
On Friday, the California Nurses Association announced that it will hold a July rally, called “Nurses Won’t Be Pushed Around,” in Atherton — Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman’s hometown. Whitman recently asked CNA for a mailing list of its 85,000 members, but the union refused, calling the request an invasion of privacy. AP/Ventura County Star, Oakland Tribune.
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Lawsuit Against Healthy San Francisco
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to consider the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s challenge to Healthy San Francisco, bringing an end to a legal battle that has lasted since the health care coverage initiative launched in 2006. San Francisco Chronicle et al.
Two More Labor Unions Agree to Scaled Back Pension, Health Benefits
The Union of American Physicians and Dentists and the International Union of Operating Engineers have reached tentative deals with Gov. Schwarzenegger to roll back some pension benefits and increase workers’ pension contributions by 5%. Sacramento Business Journal et al.